Chapter 218: Chapter 217: Awkward

After the filming ended, Xu Ying sat in Jiang Mo’s van and passed on the explosive news Cai Feng had told him today to Jiang Mo.

Jiang Mo gripped the armrest tightly upon hearing it: “I don’t know how I’ve offended him, for him to harm me this way.”

If it weren’t for Little Xu Station Chief assisting today, his career could very well be ruined by tomorrow.

Xu Ying gave him a shot of reassurance: “With me here tomorrow, don’t panic. Paid to do the job, I’ll definitely protect you!”

Jiang Mo chuckled: “Isn’t that the line I said on set today? Little Xu Station Chief sure has a good memory.”

“Once this is over, I will surely reward you handsomely.”

Xu Ying rubbed his chin, a plan already forming in his mind: “First, have the prop master prepare a set of Buddha beads similar to the ones Zhang Chenyi has.”

The two began to whisper their conspiracy.

The next morning.

At the break of dawn, the set of “Desert Blade” was already bustling.

Xu Ying stood on the sidelines, looking towards the center of the arena, where Zhang Chenyi had already changed into his costume, riding on the horse named Cheng Feng, the dark red Buddha beads on his wrist glinting eerily under the sunlight.

Jiang Mo was clad in a black, form-fitting outfit, his long brows reaching his temples, sitting atop Chasing Cloud.

Last night Xu Ying had already given Chasing Cloud a calming potion.

Chasing Cloud seemed to be in much better form today.

“All departments ready! Scene 18, First Encounter Test — Action!”

The director’s voice echoed across the set through the loudspeaker.

Zhang Chenyi slightly curved his lips, his thumb gently rolling one of the black ebony beads, which emitted a subtle “click” sound.

Xu Ying squinted, already guessing Zhang Chenyi’s intention with this action — he was preparing to apply some drugs.

Xu Ying looked towards the horizon.

And at that moment—

“Whoosh!”

A dark shadow shot through the sky like an arrow, as the falcon Lightning swooped down, its sharp claws precisely gripping the Buddha beads on Zhang Chenyi’s wrist, yanking them fiercely!

“Ah!” Zhang Chenyi was caught off guard, the Buddha beads slipping from his hand, carried to the sky by Lightning.

The whole scene was in an uproar.

“What’s going on?!”

“Wasn’t Lightning not supposed to be in the scene today? How did it appear on set?”

The director stood up abruptly, the crew looked at each other in confusion, while several paparazzi and journalists swiftly raised their cameras to capture this unexpected incident.

Zhang Chenyi’s face changed dramatically, instinctively wanting to dismount and chase, but just then, Jiang Mo had already approached on horseback, holding out a brand-new set of Buddha beads, offering them gently: “Mr. Zhang, use the spare ones.”

Jiang Mo said to the director: “Director, maybe Lightning really has a craving for acting today, but it’s fine. I had my assistant buy a set of matching Buddha beads earlier because I thought the ones Mr. Zhang had were beautiful. I didn’t expect them to become useful so quickly.”

The director sighed in relief and praised: “We’re lucky to have Mr. Jiang, otherwise the filming schedule would surely be delayed.”

Zhang Chenyi froze, his gaze lingering on Jiang Mo’s calm face for a moment before quickly searching for the falcon actor’s shadow.

That fellow had vanished somewhere.

“…Thank you.” Zhang Chenyi forced a smile, taking the Buddha beads, his knuckles whitening slightly.

The director waved his hand: “Alright, continue filming!”

The clapperboard snapped shut, and the camera refocused on the two men.

A hint of shadow flitted across Zhang Chenyi’s eyes, his fingers brushing subtly against his sleeve—concealing a fine embroidery needle as thin as cow hair, the needle tip gleaming coldly.

He had pulled this from the costume designer’s tool kit.

The scene began with a fight on horseback.

The two steeds crossed amidst the dusty air, Jiang Mo’s dark garments billowing, the long knife in his hand slicing through the air, creating a fierce gleam.

Zhang Chenyi’s white robes fluttered as his long sword parried, the clash of metal ringing across the cliff’s edge.

According to the script, Jiang Mo’s strike should have been blocked by Zhang Chenyi, with both pulling back simultaneously. However, just as the blades were about to connect, Zhang Chenyi’s wrist subtly shifted—

“Clang!”

Jiang Mo’s blade slipped past Zhang Chenyi’s sword, almost crashing down on Cheng Feng’s neck!

In a flash of lightning, Jiang Mo quickly pulled back, stopping the blade a mere inch from the horse’s neck, thankfully the prop sword wasn’t sharpened, but in that split second—

A glint of cold light flashed from Zhang Chenyi’s sleeve.

The embroidery needle stabbed harshly into the vein on Cheng Feng’s neck!

“Neeeigh!”

Cheng Feng abruptly reared up with a piercing whinny, its eyes filled with blood, forehooves striking wildly in the air.

Zhang Chenyi continued his movements while deliberately shouting loudly: “Jiang Mo, what are you doing!”

– “Oh my god! Jiang Mo hit Mr. Zhang’s horse!” a member of the crew shrieked, piercing through the set.

Beside her, another crew member secretly typed on her phone, her lens precisely capturing the mismatched scene—Jiang Mo’s blade seemed to deeply strike the horse’s neck, yet in reality, it only lightly grazed past.

This signal was akin to a starting pistol, causing the lurking paparazzi around the set to erupt. Over a dozen professional cameras simultaneously lit up red, their long-focus lenses pointing into the scene like a dense array of gun barrels.

“Did Jiang Mo do it on purpose?” a ponytailed female paparazzo shouted while shooting, “It’s just a film, why be so heavy-handed!”

Beside her, a male paparazzo with a baseball cap immediately chimed in: “I heard Mr. Zhang’s old injury on his right hand flared up, and this scene was supposed to use a stunt double!” He deliberately raised his voice, “Could someone be taking advantage of the situation…”

The shutters of the journalists’ cameras clicked continuously. A reporter from an entertainment media outlet opened a live broadcast: “Breaking news! Violent incident on the ’Desert Blade’ set, popular actor Jiang Mo suspected of intentionally harming a co-actor…”

Additionally, a male crew member took the chance to squeeze to the front of the crowd, pointing at Jiang Mo and shouting: “Director! He didn’t even restrain his force! I saw the blade hit the horse’s neck heavily with my own eyes!”

This performance took immediate effect.

Several of Zhang Chenyi’s fans in the audience instantly welled up with tears, one of them saying with a trembling voice: “Brother Chenyi’s arm injured from wire work last month still hasn’t healed… Jiang Mo knew…”

The set instantly fell into chaos, and at that moment everyone began to scream in horror simultaneously.

At the moment Zhang Chenyi’s embroidery needle pierced the side of Cheng Feng’s neck, the chestnut horse let out a harrowing whinny, its eyes filled with blood, raising its forehooves high and nearly throwing the person on its back.

[Bastard! Using a needle to stab me, it hurts so much!]

Xu Ying suddenly looked up, pupils contracting—she understood Cheng Feng’s whinnying.

“Not good!”

She yanked off her sunblock mask, her black hair billowing in the sand-laden wind, grabbing the lasso she had prepared just in case.

“Hey, you assistant, what are you doing! That’s dangerous!”

The crew shouted.

Xu Ying turned a deaf ear, swinging the lasso in a sharp arc through the air, capturing Cheng Feng’s neck precisely.

“Whoa—calm down!”

She gripped the rope firmly, her feet dragging two deep furrows in the sand.

Cheng Feng struggled madly, its hooves nearly grazing her clothes, but she did not retreat even a step, her other hand already caressing the horse’s neck.

[It’s okay, it’s okay…] she whispered in her heart, her fingers pressing gently around the needle puncture.

Cheng Feng panted heavily, eventually calming down under her soothing touch, finally lying meekly down, its head nestled into her arms.

The scene was utterly silent.

Zhang Chenyi was frozen on horseback, his face ashen.

His plan had been perfect—Cheng Feng would go mad and charge towards the haystack, he would “accidentally” fall, the blood pack would break, creating the illusion of a severe injury.

But now, not only had Xu Ying stopped the horse, but she also made Cheng Feng lie down directly…

He couldn’t even fall!

Even worse, Xu Ying had removed her hat and mask, her familiar face fully exposed to the cameras.

“It’s Little Xu Station Chief!” a crew member exclaimed.

“Xu Ying from the Desert Animal Rescue Station? The one who can talk to animals?”

The murmurs spread like a tide, cold sweat soaking through Zhang Chenyi’s costume as he stared wide-eyed at Xu Ying’s face.

He knew better than anyone—Xu Ying was a Beast Language Communication Master.

If she heard what Cheng Feng had to say…

Xu Ying released Cheng Feng, turning to face Zhang Chenyi, a “concerned” expression on her face: “Mr. Zhang, are you alright?”

Her hand “inadvertently” pressed against his waist—

“Rip!”

The blood pack burst, fake blood instantly staining his white clothes red.

“Oh no! Why are you bleeding?” Xu Ying feigned alarm, “I know first aid!”

Without waiting for Zhang Chenyi to react, she tore open his collar.

“Plop!”

Two unbroken prop blood packs fell onto the sand, starkly red and eye-catching.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep